It can be fun and easy to talk about joy when things are going really well or really smoothly. However, what about joy in the hard times? The past few weeks have been more intense than usual for me with lots of great things in the middle of lots of struggle and craziness. Through it all I've learned some POWERFUL lessons about one of the greatest catalysts for joy in hard times: EMPATHY.
The lost art of empathy has the power to bring deep joy both to the giver and receiver.
Some of my favorite things that came out in this episode are the top 5 ways to NOT show up in empathy and honoring that "empathy is a divine act of courageous love."
The best definitions came out for empathy, also, as well as it's frequently seen counterpart:
- empathy - to feel with (to love within your arms)
- sympathy - to feel sorry for/pity (to love at arm's length)
As we get clear on what empathy actually looks like, it empowers us to bring more life and love to our relationships. This single great tool has the capacity to bring depth, trust, and joy to your relationships like nothing else does. Powerful stuff!